Stacker for folding-machines.



C. A, SIGAFOOS.

STACKER FOR FOLDING MACHINES.

APPLICATION FILED APR. I9.'I9I5.

' Patented A110. 28, 1917.

122382207' 2 sHEETs-sHEET1 III| IIIIII. ze 22;

C. A. SIGAFOOS. STACKER FOR Pomme MACHINES.

' APPLICATION FlLED APR. i9, 1915. v 1,238,207. Patented Aug. 28, 1917.

2 SHEETSQSHE'ET 2.

UNITED srarns Parana* onirica;

CLARK A. SIGAFOOS, OF OMAHA, NEBRASKA.

sTAcKEn ron FOLDING-MACHINES.

` Application filed April 19, 1915.

.'Z '0 ab; whom t 'may concern chine. a packing and receiving device for folded sheets, adapted to receive all sizes of articles within the capacit)T of the folding mechanism without requiring adjustment 'for the different sizes. The packer is particularly adapted for use in connection with a simple portable machine for folding pamphlets, circulars and like articles, wherein the sheets to be folded are of moderate size and require the making of only a single fold by the machine at each operation thereon; and for convenience of description the packer is shown as constructed and operating in connection with such a folding mechanism.

In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 is a side view of a machine embodying my invention, adjacent parts of the frame being broken away to show clearly the more remote operating parts, Fig. 2 is a partly diagrammatic side view showing the operation of the packing and receiving mechanism, Fig. 3 is a partial plan view of the machine, the feed-table and parts of the frame being broken away at one side to show the underlying mechanism, and Fig. 4 is a detail perspective view of the sliding frame of the receiver for the folded sheets.

In carrying out my invention I provide a suitable frame which, in the structure shown, comprises an upper rectangularl horizontal portion 1, an intermediate rectangular horizontal portion 2 and vertical legs 3. The lower ends of the legs 3 are provided with caster-wheels 4, to facilitate the moving of the machine from place to place. At the rearward side of the machine, below the frame-portion 2, is a transverse shaft 7 5 with which one end of a plate 5 is slidably and pivotally connected. On the lower side of said plate is secured a small electric motor 6 of which the shaft carries a grooved step-pulley 7. From said pulley a round belt 8 extends to a pulley 9 carried on one and of a transverse Shaft 10 iournaled in the Specicaton of Letters Patent.

Patented Auw. 28, 1917.

semaine. 22,481.

upper part of the frame, as shown. The motor and plate 5 are freely svvingable about the axis of the shaft 75, so that the weight thereof causes a constant tension on the belt S and permits the changing of the belt to the dierent stepsof the pulley 7 without.

altering the length of the belt. Movement of the plate 5 laterally along the shaft 7 5 permits the diiferent steps of thepulley 7 to be brought into proper alinement with the pulley 9. A simple and convenient variable-speed drive is thus provided for the shaft 10. To prevent excessive downward swinging of the plate 5, should the belt 8 be removed or broken, a chain 85 isprovided, the same being normally slack and connecting the front end of the plate with theA frame, as shown. Y

On the shaft 10 between the sides of the frame is carried a knurled roller 11 which is adapted to'coperate with a similar roller 12 disposed parallel thereto and suitably journaled in the frame, the two rollers being operatively connected by av pair of gears 13 and 14 arranged at one end thereof, as shown in Fig. 3.

On the end of the shaft 10 opposite the pulley 9 is carried a small pulley 15 lfrom which a belt 16 extends to a pulley 17 carried on a stub-shaft 18. On said shaft is a small gear or pinion 19 which meshes with a gear 2O carried on the end of the cam-shaft 21, said shaft being journaled in suitable bearings near the rearward side of the machine between the frame-portions 1 and 2.y By the described driving connections the cam-shaft is driven at a low speed relatively to that of the folding-rollers 11 and 12.

An inclined feed-table 22 is arranged at the front side of the machine, the lower edge of thetable being adjacent to the upper side of the roller 12. Behind the roller 11 is an inclined slotted plate or gage-tabley 23 of which the upper surface is in the same plane as the surface of the table 22, being practically a continuation of said table behind the rollers. The plate 23 is supported by transverse bars 24 and 25, of which the ends are secured to the sides of the frame, the plate passing over the bar 24 and beneath the bar 25. To the vbar 25 are secured the lower ends of a plurality of. guide-rods 26 which extend parallel with the plate 23 to points near the upper edge thereof adjoining the roller 11, the upper ends of the rods being .Curved away .from the plate, as. shown. ,a

gage-bar 27 is mounted slidably on the guide-rods 26, and may be secured at adjust.- ed positions upon the gage-table by means of bolts 2S and thumb-nuts 29, the bolts extending through the slots in the table so that the heads thereof are beneath the same.

At each corner of the front side of the machine are secured lugs 30 having vertical openings therein for receiving` rods 31 which carry at the upper ends thereof the stochtables Said tables are adapted to carry the stoel; or material to be folded, and are arranged at each side of the machine so that the operator may use either or, preferably, both hands for feeding the material to the folding mechanism. rlhe rodsV 31 may be either rotated or moved vertically through the lugs 30 in order to place the tables at convenient positions, the rods being held in adjusted position by means of set-screws 33, as shown in Fig. 1. In feeding paper to the machine, a sheet is placed on the table 22 and pushed down across the folding-rollers l1 and l2, over the gage-table 23 and beneath the guide-rods 26, until the.

lower edge of the sheet engages the gage-bar 27. |The sheet is then creased and pushed down between the rollers by means of the knife or tapper-blade 34.

The blade 34 is carried by arms 35 secured to a transverse shaft 86 which is pivoted in the frame and extends beneath the gagetable 23. An arm 37 extends diagonally downward and rearward from the shaft 36, the lower end of the arm being adjacent to a cam 38 on the cam-shaft 2l. A rod 39 is pivotally connected with the arm 37 and extends slidably through a bloelr 40 pivoted on theY frame. A collar Lll is secured on said rod,V and a spring 42 is disposed around the rodi between the collar and the blocl 110', so that the pressure of the spring` tends to press the arm 37 toward the cam. At the Side of the arm 37 adjacent to the cam, a flexible plate or tongue 43 is disposed in spaced relation thereto, one end of the tongue being fixedly secured to the arm and the other endl bearing against the end` of a screw ldwhich passes through the end of the arm, as shown. The tongue is held, by pressure of the spring e2, in constant engagement with the cam, and the relation of the tongue and arm may be varied by adjustments of the screw fle; to compensate wear of the parts and to vary the depth. to which the tapperblade 34 is permitted to pass down between the folding-rollers'll and 12.

F or preventingv the descent of the tapperblade, to avoid the folding of a sheet when the same has not been fed into proper engagement with the gage-bar, a bent lever 4:5 is pivoted on one side of the frame. Said lever has a long arm which extends downwardly from the fulcrum. and a short arm at they upper part thereof which carries apart of the frame and carries at its front end4 a semi-circular soclret-piecedS which may be engaged by the leg or knee of the operator to push the rod rearwardly.

is the folded sheets pass out beneath the rollers l1 and 12, they are received by a reciprocating carrier and thereby conveyed into a receiver therefor, of which the construction is as follows:

Near each side of the machine, and extending between the front and. rear members of the frame-portion 2 are hOrizontal guiderodsd). On said rods there is slidably mounted a iJ-shaped bar of which the end-portions extend upwardly and are provided with openings through which the guide-rodsl pass. To the ends of the U-bar 50 are secured the rear ends of side-bars 5l which extend forward horizontally therefrom and rest on the upper side of the front` member of the frame-portion 2 between lugs thereon. To the front ends of the bars 5l is secured a cross-bar 53 which carries the vertical end-rods 54. To the cross-bar 53 there are also secured the front ends of a plurality of bottom-rods 55 which extend back at the same level as the side-bars 5l to points above the transverse portion of the U-bar50, thence curving downwardly and having their kends secured to said portion of the U-bar. The arrangement of the described partsl of the slide-frame is clearly shown in Fig. et.

@n the frontportions of the guide-rods 49 a transverse cross-bar 56 is slidably mounted. On the rearward side of said cross-bar are a plurality of fingers 57 from which rods 58 extend up parallel with the end-rods 5t of the sliding receiver-fram@ the upper ends of said rods 58 being curved slightly rearward. At' the center of the cross-bar 56 a flat bar 76 is pivotally connected therewith and extends to a crank-pin 59 carried on the side of anreccentrie 60 which is secured on the cam-shaft 2l.. During rotation of the cam-shaft saidy crank.- pin 59 and connecting-rod '76' serve to impart a reciprocating movement'to the crossbar 56 and the parts carried thereby.

0n. the rearward side of thefmachiue frame, a transverse shaft 6l is pivotally mounted in suitable bearings, and from said shaft a plurality of arms 62 extend forwardly, said arms-being spaced transversely so as to lie in vertical planes not coincidwith .the vertical planes of the longitudinal members 5l and 55 of the sliding receiver-frame, or with the vertical' planes of the fingers 57 and rods 5S of the reciprocating frame. @n the central. part of the shaft 6l is an arm G3 wnich extends adjacent to the eccentric 60 and carries a roller Gaf which bears upon the periphery of the eccentric. llear one end of the shaft Sl is an arm 135 with which a rod G6 is pivotally connected, said rod extending slidably through a block (i7 pivoted on the fra-me. Collars 68 and Gi) are secured on said rod G6, and between the respective colla-rs and the block 67 coil springs 7 O and 71 are disposed around the rod. he spring 70 serves to hold the roller (3lin engagement with the eccentric so that during rotation of the cam-shaft an oscillating movement will be thereby imparted to the shaft Gl and the arms carried thereby. The spring 7l serves as a buffer to cushion return movement of the parts caused by the other spring.

On each of the arms G2 near the front end thereof a curved rod 72 is secured thereto and extends upwardly therefrom. Each of the arms 62 also carries .at its end a bent rod having a U-shaped portion 73 extending downwardly from the arm, and a poi'- tion 74 extending up from the front side of the U-portion past the end of the arinto a. point slightly below and in front of the upper end of the rod 72.

The extent of the oscillating movement imparted by the eccentric 60 to the shaft 6l is such that at one extreme of the movement the arms 62 are raised to a position at which the upper ends of the reds 7 2 and 7l are adjacent, respectively, to the rollers 1l and 12, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 2, while at the other extreme of the movement said ends of the rods are below the level of the longitudinal members 5l and 55 of the sliding receiver-frame, .s shown in Fig. l and by the full lines in Fig. 2. The various parts of the mechanism are so arranged, and the operation thereof so timed, that the tapper-blade starts a sheet between the folding-rollers slightly iefore the time that the arms G2 of the oscillating carrier reach their uppermost position, and said arms begin their downward movement at about the same time that the lower edge of the folded sheet enga ges the arms at the bot-- tom of the spaces between the rods 72 and 7 The arms then move downwardly at substantially the same speed at which the folded sheet is fed out from between the folding-rollers. The movement of the reciprocating cross-bar 56 is so timed that after the arms 62 have reached an intermediate position during their upward movement, and during the completion of said upward movement, but before the folded sheet is fed by the folding rollers into the space between the rods 72 and 7e, the rods 5S are moved rearwardly to positions behind the rods 72 ofthe oscillating carrier. lThen during the downward movement of the carrier the folded sheet is carried down in front of the rods 58, being deposited by the carrier on the bottom-rods of the sliding receiver-frame, which serve to strip the sheet from the carrier. The reciprocating packer, formed by the cross-bar 56 and rods 5S, moves forwardly during the time that the rods 72 and 7d are below the level of the bottom-rods 55, so that the folded sheet is thereby pushed forward, and as the carrier again moves upwardly the rods 7 a pass upbehind the folded sheet or sheets in the carrier. rlhen as'the packer-rods 58 are again Ymoved rearwardly the folded sheet is prevented from moving baelwardly by engaging the front sides of the rods 74, and of the continuation thereof which forms the front sides of the U-portion 7 3.

The operation of the described mechanism will be clearly apparent from Fig. 2, wherein a plurality of the folded sheets A. are shown in the receiver, a sheet a being shown in position over the folding-rollers ready to be started between them by the tapper-blade, a sheet Y) being indicated by dotted lines as being started between the rollers, a sheet c being indicated by dotted lines as within the oscillating carrier at the uppermost position thereof. and a sheet l being represented by dotted lines in the position at which it is` stripped from the carrier by the bottom-rods of the receiver. The relative positions of the oscillating carrier and of the reciprocating packer devices are shown in Fig. 2 by full and dotted lines, respectively, when the carrier is in the lowermost and in the uppermost positions thereof.

lt will be seen that, as the space between the end-rods 54 of the receiver and the rods 5S of the packer becomes filled with the' folded sheets, the sliding frame will be successively pushed forward by the pressure of the packer against the folded sheets, so that the capacity of the receiver will be automatically proportioned to the amount of the folded sheets contained therein. It will also be seen that when the folded sheets are removed from the receiver, it is merely necessary for the operator to push the sliding frame rearwardly to its initial position, and that no adjustment of the packing or receiving devices is necessary to enable the same to operate upon sheets of any size within the capacity of the folding mechanism. llt will be noted further that the only adjustment of the folding mechanism neeessary to enable the folding of any sheet i" within the capacityof the machine, is the setting of the gage-bar 27 at the desired distance below the tapper-blade and folding-rollers.

New, having described my invention,Y

what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. In a machine of the class described, folding-rollers, an oscillating` carrier adapted to receive sheets issuing' from the folding-rollers and to carry same away from the rollers, a reciprocating' packer movable synchronously with the carrier so as to bc at one side of the carrier during' movement ot the latter away from the rollers and to be at the other side ot the carrier during' the movement thereof toward the rollers7 and relatively fixed members for receiving' the sheets from the carrier during; the movement thereof away from the rollers.

2. In a machine of the class described, a reciprocating' carrier havingl spaced members adapted to receive a sheet between them, means for delivering,y sheets into the carrier, a receiver having' relatively fixed members intersecting' the path oi the sheet to strip the same from the carrier, and a reciprocating packer having' members interspaced with the carrier-members and adapted to push the sheets in the receiver out of the way of the carrier during` the return movement thereof.

3. In a machine of the class described. a horizontally slidable receiver-frame having` end-members and transversely-spaced bot'- tom-members, a reciprocating' packer having' vertical members adapted to coperate with the end members of the receiver-frame to hold sheets between them, and verticallyreciprocatingT members interspaced with the bottom-members of the receiver-frame` said vertically-reciprocating members being adapted to move in one direction while the vertical packer-members are behind them and to move in the other direction while saidy pacl-:er-members are in front ot' them.

4. In a machine of the class described, packing and receiving' mechanism comprising1 al horizontally-slidable receiver-frame having' vertical end-members and horizontal transversely spaced bottom-members, a horiZontally-reciprocating packer havingl vertical members interspaced with the bottommembers of the receiver-frame, verticallyreciprocating carrier-members transversely interspaced with the bottom-members of the receiver-frame, and actuating; means for the packer and carrier-mcmbers, whereby the vertical members oi the packer are moved toward the end-members of the receiverframe across the plane of movement of the carrier-members while the latter are below the bottom of the receiver. and are moved to the opposite position while the carriermembers are above the bottom of the receiver.

C. A. SGAFOOS.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the' Commissioner of Patents.

Washington, D. C. 

